BEAU-RIVAGE LAUSANNE

Lakeside Palace-Style Hotel

The Beau-Rivage Lausanne is situated close to the lakeside on the northern shore on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Interestingly the hotel is not located in Lausanne itself, which is about 2km away in a suburb named Ouchy.

From its beautiful open reception area, to the circular glass lift, to the immaculate gardens with lake view, this is clearly a hotel of grandeur.

While the front of the hotel has little of distinction, its at the back where all the action takes place - this is where you can find the outdoor pools, gardens, breakfast room with its circular terrace, and an external lift down to the lakeside level.

The lakeside itself features several eateries within a few minutes walk of the hotel. You can stroll by the lake after dinner before returning to your room by taking the private (hotel guests only) lift from the lakeshore up to the level on which the hotel is situated.

  • The relatively-small bedroom was well-appointed, with a superbly calming lake view.

    Universal converter plug located in drawer.

    Nespresso machine (standard capsule type) plus liquid creamers

    The bathroom contained a shower only (no bath-tub), and featured a useful night light.

    A light master switch behind the beside table meant that all room and bathroom lights could be easily extinguished from the bed.

    8/10

  • Comfortable mattress, although the pillows less so – several identical shallow pillows were supplied as opposed to pillows of varying depth/firmness. Noisy air conditioning.

    7/10

  • The air conditioning, which was required for the summer heatwave in Europe, was louder than you would expect for a hotel of this class.

    5/10

  • The Guerlain Spa features a good-sized indoor pool with separate whirlpool. The sauna, steam room and “ice cave” are located in each of the two changing rooms, meaning that many couples are unable to experience these features together. The increasingly-fashionable suspended wooden bucket with hanging chain unfortunately/fortunately contained lukewarm water. The ice cave contains a wall of fake ice-like plastic cubes as opposed to the real thing, and it wasn’t working on our visit.

    The jacuzzi/hot tub, located next to the main indoor pool was also out of action.

    A cute friendly robot sucks up excess water in the area surrounding the pool and whirlpool.

    7/10

  • Although the gym is small, it’s equipped with state-of-the-art machines that adjust the weight for you – once the weight has been selected on the screen, the machine changes the weight itself – no more having to slot a metal key into the appropriate hole in a stack of weight slabs. A selection of free weights and aerobic machines are also available. The gym overlooks the external pool area and the gardens, thus providing a view while static cycling.

    8/10

  • Breakfast takes place in a large light-filled room, with curved external terrace overlooking the lake for fine-weather outdoor eating. The buffet is very well stocked, and the stand-out feature is a wide selection of freshly prepared juices, including (uniquely) juiced ginger root. The plentiful staff are ever-ready to take orders for cooked items and coffee refills.

    9/10

  • Poor quality

    3/10

The hotel features several of its own restaurants, most of them being located at the lake level (accessible via the private lift). We experienced the brasserie - Cafe Beau-Rivage - which was excellent. Other options include Kaigan, a Japanese place with a reputation for fine sushi, and the two-Michelin-starred Pic au Beau-Rivage Palace.

An outdoor terrace located at the back of the hotel, accessible from the reception area, would have been a lovely place to have drinks overlooking the lake. But it was spoiled for us by smokers at multiple tables, meaning that none of the seating area was health-safe.

The bedrooms are on the small side, although ours benefited from a delightful view over the gardens to the rear of the hotel, and the lake beyond.

The coffee at this hotel is poor quality. The good news is that a fabulous independent coffee shop, Bel Air Coffee, is hidden in a courtyard off the main shopping street in Lausanne, about 2 km from the hotel. It sources its beans from Peruvian family farms. Lausanne itself can be accessed via a funicular train that is free-of-charge to guests of the hotel - the Ouchy funicular station is about 3 minutes walk from the hotel.

Personal Note

This is a beautiful hotel in a wonderful location overlooking Lake Geneva. Its maintained to an immaculate standard, with professional, friendly staff, with a good staff to guest ratio.

The robot in the spa that hoovers up excess water is a delight.

Hotel Website